Maple Leafs Place Mark Giordano on Injured Reserve Following Concussion Diagnosis
The Toronto Maple Leafs are playing it safe with veteran defenceman Mark Giordano, who was diagnosed with a concussion and placed on injured reserve Friday.
General manager Brad Treliving spoke following Friday’s practice, revealing Giordano will be sidelined without a timetable to return after leaving Thursday’s contest against the Arizona Coyotes with a head injury.
The 40-year-old blueliner took a hard spill into the boards and remained on the ice for several moments after impact, ultimately requiring assistance down the tunnel and ending his night prematurely.
“He’s going to be out some time. We have, or we will, be placing him on injured reserve. He was concussed,” Treliving told reporters, including The Hockey News’ David Alter.
“He’s doing better today. But as any of these, he’s in the protocol and we’ll just see how things respond over the course of the next few off days. But he’s going to miss some time.”
Giordano’s injury occurred during only his fourth shift of the game, leaving after 3:09 of ice time. Prior ailments and a family-related absence have limited him to 38 games this season, posting one goal and seven points while averaging 16:41 per night.
The 2019 Norris Trophy winner proved to be a bargain last season, notching four goals and 24 points across 78 games – the most he had played since his award-winning campaign – during which he averaged nearly 19 minutes per contest.
“He was in rough shape last night. We had a good chat today. I think everybody in the building [last night] caught their breath a little bit. He went in hard and he was out for a little bit,” Treliving said.
“But he was doing better after the game, and then you compound that on with what he’s gone through in the last month, it’s been tough. But he’s doing well today. You feel for him. He’s a good, good man, and he’s gone through a lot here in the last few weeks.”
With the Maple Leafs breaking out in transition, Giordano jumped into the play and drove hard to the net, coming close to potting the opening goal – only to be denied by Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram.
The Toronto, ON native dove head-first in his attempt to tap in a pass from teammate Pontus Holmberg, a decision that – due to the speed he was travelling – resulted in his head crashing into the end boards.
Losing Giordano, who’s averaged the fifth-most minutes among Maple Leafs defencemen this season, is incredibly concerning. Thus, the timing of the club’s reacquiring of Ilya Lyubushkin couldn’t be any better.
Toronto sent a 2025 third-round pick to the Anaheim Ducks and a 2024 sixth-rounder to the Carolina Hurricanes as a third-team salary broker for Lyubushkin, whose contract now carries a $687,500 cap hit – $87,500 less than the NHL’s minimum salary – at 75 percent retained.
But with Giordano sidelined and a hole or two to plug on the back end, Treliving will likely continue exploring the defensive market with the clock ticking down toward next Friday’s trade deadline.
Lyubushkin, a 29-year-old right-shot blueliner, played 55 games with the Ducks, registering four points (all assists), 138 blocks and 112 hits as a depth defenceman averaging 17:09 per night.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe said he expects Lyubushkin to make his Maple Leafs return versus the New York Rangers at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.